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HOLLYWOOD CARTOONS

Name: HOLLYWOOD CARTOONS
Author: Michael Barrier
ISBN: 0-19-503759-6

AMERICAN ANIMATION IN ITS GOLDEN AGE

by Michael Barrier ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1999

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A very detailed account of animated cartoons, strongly emphasizing the influence and personality of Walt Disney. This genre’s history is still undercovered, so cartoon expert Barrier’s book should come as a welcome addition to researchers and fans. The former editor of Funnyworld magazine opens his text with an assessment of pioneers Bray, BarrÇ, and McCay, focusing on the businesses and systems (as opposed to the artistry) that went into their cinematic experiments. Barrier situates the cartooning pioneers in their office environs, detailing the management and scut work necessary for the films— production. Moving on quickly to the meat of his book, the Walt Disney studios, the author takes an interesting tack in contrasting Disney’s self-image (garnered from letters to his wife) with the views of his associates and underlings. While fellow animators considered him something of a bully and philistine, Walt saw himself more as a driven businessman. Barrier extensively covers cartooning’s business transactions, noting specific dollar amounts paid to animators, studios, and distributors and exploring the deal-making that brought cartoons from the East to the West Coast. Nor does he neglect the art’s mechanics, providing reasonably in-depth analysis of its growth from simple series of drawings to multilayered cel animations. The book also covers the later years of cartooning, up through the mid-1960s, with a brief appendix on the longer animations of the ’70s and ’80s. While Warner Bros. and MGM each get chapters, the narrative continually returns to Disney’s output; some may question whether this is the definitive text on cartooning’s history, or merely a Disney-centric take on it. The book’s strongest point is also its weakest: Barrier’s in-depth coverage of every squabble, transaction, and mode of cartooning. This makes it appealing to the historian and cartoon geek, but a bit dull for the average reader.

Pub Date: April 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-19-503759-6

Page Count: 624

Publisher: Oxford Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.